tlhIngan-Hol Archive: Mon Oct 30 07:12:53 1995
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Re: Translation correct?
- From: "William H. Martin" <[email protected]>
- Subject: Re: Translation correct?
- Date: Mon, 30 Oct 1995 10:12:46 -0500 (EST)
- In-Reply-To: <Chameleon.4.01.2.951028010836.rens@> from "[email protected]" at Oct 27, 95 05:14:54 pm
You got one reply to this, but I'm not sure, were I a beginner,
I would have considered that terriffically helpful, so here's
another person's stab at it. Also note that yoDtargh is the
Beginner's Grammarian here and if you get confused by several
people writing on your post, his counts most.
According to [email protected]:
>
> qajatlh tlhInganpu'
This is kind of fine, with one little boo boo. "Klingons, I
speak to you," works, except that "Klingons" is plural. In
English, there is no difference, but in Klingon, that would
have to be {Sajatlh tlhInganpu'.} It could also be {tlhInganpu'
Sajatlh.} Arguably, the latter is a little better, since the
object of the sentence is "you, Klingons". Meanwhile, this is
really more a matter of addressing the person to whom you are
speaking, and that can come at the beginning or end of a
sentence, much like Valkris's {HIja' jawwI' bangwI' je} in
Search for Spock (ST3).
> I'm a newbee in tlhIngan Hol.
Welcome.
> Trying to form a phrase, and wich to know if it's correct.
>
> [You (single) translate it into klingon] e.i. a name.
> {Damugh tlhIngan} looks nice.
> A friend advices me to write {Damugh tlhInganDaq}.
>
> Wich of this would be preferable?
Yours, while flawed, is better than your friends. As has
already been explained {-Daq} is only for spacial locations.
What you want is something that experienced Klingonists had to
work on for a while before they figured out the best way to
express this.
The keyword is "recast". If you ask, "How can I translate the
words, 'Translate it into Klingon,' the answer is, "You can't."
What you have to do is dig into the thought that created the
sentence, "Translate it into Klingon" and then build a sentence
in Klingon expressing that thought with the best tools that
Klingon has to offer.
"Translate it into Klingon" can be said many ways in English.
"While you speak Klingon, translate those words."
"In order that a Klingon can understand, translate those words."
"For the purpose that a Klingon can understand, translate those
words."
"Because you want to learn Klingon language, translate those
words."
"While you use Klingon language, translate those words."
All of these other expressions of the same thought are much
easier to translate into Klingon than your original. They may
sound more complex in English than your simple original, but
they are much simpler in Klingon than they are in English. It
has to do with idioms and prepositions and idiomatic use of
prepositions. These are quirks that each language has and the
first step to translating between English and Klingon is
recognizing these quirks in English which we mistakenly think
are universal to all languages.
Translating "into" another language is not universal at all.
Given the full range of languages out there, I'd wager that few
of them would use a preposition meaning "into" to refer to the
link between translation and the language "into" which the text
is to be translated.
So, don't just sit there. Translate all of the above English
suggestions into Klingon.
DaH!
> Dolth.
charghwI'
--
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